Know Your Enemy
by Tohdoh
Summary: Parasyte spores descend upon the MCU's Earth. Facing a sinister new threat, the post-Endgame Avengers summon Shinichi from his world and turn to him for help. Entry into an alternate universe draws out the ever-curious Migi from his sleep. As Shinichi and Migi get acquainted with the Avengers, they're most intrigued by Wanda: the telepath in the team.
1. The Arrival

**This is a crossover of two things that no one would expect to put together, so I'm amazed that you had ended up here at all (how did you find this? haha). I had to decide which timeline and which group of Avengers to use for this fic, and I went with post-Endgame. I wrote this purely out of my own interest in what would happen if the concept of Parasytes were introduced to the MCU, but if you like what I have here, of course I appreciate that.**

* * *

**Know Your Enemy (1)**

**The Arrival**

Blissful, slumbering peace spread like a blanket over the world. People thought that sleep would come easily to them tonight. Thinking that was a mistake. A scattered shower of green spores drifted from above unannounced, undetected. Those spores snuck into any surface that they could find, with the sole exception of a certain African nation whose sophisticated barrier provided protection from even the smallest and insidious of enemies. Once the spores had a safe place to land, they popped open, and out came its occupants searching for the nearest host to inhabit. They too slipped in and slithered about without a sound, or any warning.

The Parasyte terror had been unleashed. The world would not know that yet until the morning.

* * *

Shinichi set down the tenth bulky box he had been lugging around and rubbed his sore back. "There, I think that's the last one," he announced with a gusty sigh. "Thanks for helping me move in, Murano."

"Sure, no problem," came her cheerful reply not too far behind him. She had held open the door to his new university dorm, and after Shinichi stumbled in with the box, she closed it behind her. "Nice little place you got here," his girlfriend remarked. "So far away from Tokyo, though. You sure you'll be okay out here?"

"Yeah, I gotta be. Kyoto University's the only place that accepted me." Shinichi wanted to settle into his new dorm early before the term started. He felt bad about leaving his dad alone in Tokyo, and felt even worse about having to study away from Murano, who would attend college back home. Maybe they could make a long distance relationship work, if they put effort into it. Maybe either of them could transfer. As for his dad, the fact that his son was going to college perked him up from his usual beer-fueled stupor since his wife's death. He had insisted that he would be fine back home, as long as Shinichi called at least once a week.

Shinichi still couldn't believe that his summer had gone by quietly, without any incidents, without so much a peep from Parasytes stirring up trouble. The Parasytes were adapting, evolving, improving in their integration into human society. If that meant more peaceful, civilized Parasytes, that was fine with Shinichi. Poor grades and failing out of college should be the only things to worry about, not the life-and-death, dog-eat-dog struggle to survive. Those days were over. Migi could take a long rest now.

Shinichi stared down at his right palm, half expecting it to contort and morph into the single eyeball on a stalk and lips he was so used to seeing. Damn it, he missed the little bugger. Just as he was starting to grow fond of the Parasyte that took over his right hand, Migi had to leave. The Parasyte would always be a part of Shinichi, yet Migi felt so far away, out of reach. Shinichi would make new friends in college, sure, but he would never have another friend quite like Migi. That Parasyte could have lent Shinichi a hand in moving his belongings into his dorm.

"Hey, earth to Shinichi. Trying to read your palm, or what?"

Murano's interjection and hand wave in his face jerked him out of his reverie, and he shoved his right hand into his pocket.

"Sorry, just spacing out."

"You've been doing that a lot lately. You okay?"

"Yeah, just a lot of things to think about before college starts. I haven't even decided my major yet." Shinichi wasn't exactly lying.

Murano chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll figure it out. Freshman year is a bunch of core classes we all have to take before we focus on our majors, anyway." She leaned against his bookshelf. "Well, I'm wiped out. How about we go grab some boba tea down the block?"

"Sure, boba tea sounds great right now."

Murano puffed up her cheeks in a pout. "Boba tea's _always_ great. What are you talking about?" She dashed down the stairs to meet him at his car parked outside.

Shinichi fingered at his keys, and after giving his aching back another rub, he made to follow her. He didn't go beyond two steps. A ring rimmed with golden sparks opened up beneath him. He looked down and gasped. "What the-" Then he screamed as he plummeted through. His stomach shot up into his throat. He tumbled through a void with no hand or foothold. Only one thought ran through his mind without pause.

_I'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadie-_


	2. The Strangers

**Know Your Enemy (2)**

**The Strangers**

After what seemed like a neverending spiral of freefall, a silver tiled floor approached Shinichi at breakneck speed. Or rather, he approached it at a speed that would surely kill him and send body parts flying in every direction. Knowing full well it was futile, he threw both arms across his face to brace himself for the impact.

The impact never came. Shinichi cracked open his eyes. Instead of breaking his arms, he floated just a few inches above the tiled floor. Before he could catch his breath, the suspension broke and he landed with a soft thud. Shivering and panting, Shinichi managed to roll over on his back. Stars flashed and swirled in his vision.

"Are you Shinichi Izumi?"

He uttered a wordless groan in response. Who said that? Murano? God, he was so tired of that question. Just when Murano stopped asking it so many times, too…

"Murano, is that you?" he managed to ask.

"Are you Shinichi Izumi?" came the voice again, this time louder and more insistent.

A man's voice, not Murano's. Shinichi slapped his cheek a few times. Was he dreaming? Why did he fall asleep? Wasn't he just going out to get boba tea with Murano? He was hoisted off the floor. Shinichi tried staggering to his feet, only to wave them uselessly in the air. Something was holding him up. He couldn't feel any hands on him. How was that possible? After falling through what seemed like a tunnel of darkness, the lights reflected from the floor made him squint and blink rapidly. He heard cushions sigh from the weight of his backside.

He also heard a swirl of voices, all in English and nothing he could understand. This had to be a dream. None of this made any sense. He rubbed his eyes and pinched the back of his hand as hard as he could. Instead of Shinichi waking up to find himself back in his university dorm, a man knelt before him so that they were eye level with each other. The man had a long, solemn face, and eyes that seemed to have seen countless things beyond Shinichi's imagination. White hair streaked his temples; otherwise the rest of his hair was dark. A red cape draped over his blue tunic, and some sort of pendant hung at his neck. Shinichi had never seen a man like him in his life, not even in dreams he had before.

The man pointed a finger over Shinichi's chest. "Are you Shinichi Izumi?"

Dazed, confused, and understanding only his name, Shinichi nodded slowly. After several hard blinks, his vision sharpened, and as it did, he realized that behind the man were others: people who didn't look Japanese at all, let alone familiar. Maybe it wasn't the smartest idea to tell them his name. He couldn't stop shaking. Gripping the sleeves of his upper arms, Shinichi cowered before the strangers who converged around him. They kept their distance, however, with guarded expressions on all of their faces, especially the face of the only woman among them…as if they somehow knew his true nature.

* * *

Sam, who held the shield of Captain America in his right arm, scanned the newcomer from head to toe with skepticism. "You're sure this is the right guy, Strange?"

"I'm sure of it." Dr. Strange straightened his knees and didn't take his gaze off of the one named Shinichi. "He's the one we need."

"He's…just a kid." Rhodey folded his arms across his chest the best way he could with the War Machine suit. "Can't be more than eighteen, looks like."

"Remember when we thought that Spider-Man was 'just a kid?'" Bucky angled his left side more toward the young Japanese man. "One thing I learned from that airport fight is not to underestimate people who could pass for 'just a kid.'" Out of habit, Bucky faced potential danger with his left arm, so he could quickly defend himself.

Out of all the Avengers gathered around Shinichi, Wanda stood the farthest away from him. "He's different," she murmured. "I know it. The presence is faint, but I can still sense it in him." Legs spread apart as if ready to run, shoulders squared, and hands almost curled into fists, she appeared to emanate tension and unease from her body in waves. "If I were you, Dr. Strange, I wouldn't stand that close."

Though the terse warning was meant for the Sorcerer Supreme, her comrades edged farther away from Shinichi.

Smooth confidence laced Dr. Strange's reply. "He won't hurt us. He can provide valuable information."

"Can we be sure about that?" The arm that had used the Infinity Gauntlet was healed now, so Bruce wrung his hands and looked dismayed. "Even if he's willing to cooperate, he can't talk to us. He doesn't seem to speak English." He scratched his head. "Uh…does anybody here speak Japanese?"

* * *

Shinichi's wide-eyed gaze darted like a pinball as the strangers discussed amongst themselves, then lapsed into an awkward silence at the big green man's question. Incomprehension at what they were saying fueled his fear, making his heart pound against his ribcage. Shinichi continued to pinch the top of his right hand until the spot smarted and grew bright red.

Why wasn't he waking up? Why weren't the strangers going away? He refused to believe that any of this was really happening, that he found himself in real danger with no idea of what was going on, where he was, or what these strangers wanted with him.

Could they all be Parasytes? The thought sent a wave of cold dread down his legs. If that was true, he had no way of telling, and worst of all, he had no way to protect himself.

"Come on, Migi, where are you? I need you." Shinichi's whispered plea went unheard by the sleeping Parasyte. Or so he thought for a few seconds.

Then a familiar tingling sensation coursed through his right hand, spreading from his palm and shooting into his fingers. His hand, dormant and perfectly ordinary since Migi retreated from contact, stirred to a life of its own once again.

Shinichi's heart soared. "Migi, you're back," he cried.


	3. The Arrangements

**Know Your Enemy (3)**

**The Arrangements**

The Parasyte's terrifying face and blades sprouted from Shinichi's right hand, triggering fighting stances, startled cries, and curses among the Avengers. Sam braced himself behind the shield, and Bucky brandished his left arm. Wanda whipped up orbs of red energy, ready to fire at the Parasyte. Rhodey's mounted turrets aimed at multiple sharpened appendages that the Parasyte grew. Bruce raised both of his large green fists close to his face.

"What is this place? How did we get here?" The Parasyte demanded in crisp, fluent American English.

"It can talk to us," Bruce exclaimed.

The Parasyte ignored Bruce's surprise. "I sense that none of you are my kind."

"No, we're not whatever you things are," Sam replied in a hardened voice. "But we can still put up a good fight if we have to."

Bucky glared up at the Parasyte and flexed his knuckles of vibranium. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring the kid here, after all."

Dr. Strange was the only one in the room to keep his composure. He didn't even summon mandalas as barriers for his hands. Instead, he addressed the Parasyte with calm authority. "This is Earth, but not the Earth you came from or you're familiar with. I'm the one who brought you and the boy to us. We're looking for information, not a fight."

The Parasyte extended its eye stalk and stopped dangerously close before Dr. Strange's nose, and even then the Sorcerer Supreme didn't flinch or break away his gaze. "How can I be sure that you don't have other motives up your sleeve?"

"You can be sure with me." Wanda took a few reluctant steps forward, and unlike Dr. Strange, her face was pale and nervousness seemed to tighten around her vocal chords. "I know that you can read me, just as I can read you."

The Parasyte's eye swiveled over to her next, and she stiffened under its attention on her. "Indeed." Intrigue colored the former cold, rational tone in the Parasyte's voice. "You do not signal a killing intent. So that was you I had sensed when I woke up from my sleep."

Wanda was not surprised by the last remark. Ever since she knew of their existence, the Parasytes were drawn to her just as she was drawn to them. "Like Dr. Strange said, we're not interested in fighting you." Wisps of red energy coiled around a hand she held up at the Parasyte. "We prefer that you talk, but if you attack, we'll have no choice but to fight back and defend ourselves. You have that same approach."

The Parasyte lowered its blades, but did not make them recede. "It's true that my kind value self-preservation above everything else. I do not attack unless when it's necessary in order to save my life, and by extension Shinichi's. Do I have your word that you truly don't mean to hurt me or the boy?"

Sam spoke on behalf of the new team. "You have our promise."

The Parasyte morphed a blade into a little hand to rest its chin on, and considered Sam's reply in brief silence. Then it said, "If none of us see the necessity or have the intent to fight, then there is no need for all of us to be up in arms at each other." At that, the Parasyte's blades drew back into its main body, so that its eye and mouth remained.

With barely concealed sighs of relief, the Avengers lowered their weapons and relaxed their postures. Shinichi also looked relieved that no one aimed dangerous-looking things at him anymore, though he still looked confused since he hadn't understood the conversation. The Parasyte turned its face back towards the young man to translate everything in Japanese. Only then, Shinichi visibly relaxed and sagged into the seat Dr. Strange had dropped him in.

Like the camera of a drone, the Parasyte's single golden eye scanned over the assembled Avengers. "You seemed startled by my appearance, but not so startled and paralyzed with fear as the average human who comes across me. You all know about my kind, then?"

"Not everything," Bruce said. "But enough to know that our world's under attack, and we need to know more about how we can fight off the threat."

The Parasyte narrowed its eye and pursed its lips. "You are fighters? You do not resemble any kind of military force or law enforcement agency that I recognize. Your appearances are too bizarre."

"Huh. The pot calling the kettle black," Rhodey shot back.

The Parasyte ignored his jibe. "As you had somehow realized, this boy I'm attached to is Shinichi Izumi. I didn't think it was necessary, but he had insisted on me having a name, so I call myself Migi. And who are you?"

* * *

For Shinichi's sake, the strangers pointed to themselves or put a hand on their chests while taking turns to tell him and Migi their names. The first person Shinichi had seen was Dr. Stephen Strange. The one with the shield was Sam Wilson. The man with a prosthetic left arm was James Buchanan Barnes, or just Bucky. The man covered in the grey armored suit was James Rhodes, or simply Rhodey. The big green one was Bruce Banner. The woman in the red jacket, and the only one who could sense Migi, it seemed, was Wanda Maximoff.

Shinichi's head spun from all the names being thrown at him. It was his turn to speak. "My name Shinichi. Eighteen years old. I from Tokyo." His ears grew hot and he bowed his head. "Sorry, my English not very good." He wished he had paid more attention and got better grades in his English classes during high school. He felt like an idiot for uttering a mangled attempt to introduce himself.

After the round of introductions, Migi relayed to Shinichi what Sam said next. "They call themselves the Avengers," the Parasyte told Shinichi. "They describe themselves as a response team that protects global stability from internal and extraterrestrial threats." Then Migi added, "The man named Dr. Strange would like to clarify that he is not part of the Avengers, but merely acquainted with them, and that he is a 'sorcerer of the mystic arts.'"

"So you're all, like, a bunch of superheroes?" Shinichi blurted out. Migi translated his question to the Avengers (though in more formal Migi fashion: "You are what they call in the comics 'superheroes,' then?"), and some of them cracked a wry smile at that.

Rhodey shrugged. "For lack of better words, yeah."

"I did not know that such enhanced and equipped individuals existed," Migi said. "Powerful humans such as yourselves certainly don't exist in the world that Shinichi and I come from." The Parasyte turned his eye to Dr. Strange. "You say that you pulled us from our world. How did you accomplish that?"

"With magic," the Sorcerer Supreme replied.

"Impossible," Migi exclaimed. He was so surprised that for a moment he neglected to translate for Shinichi. "Magic isn't real. It's merely misdirection, an illusion. Just cheap tricks to entertain humans and make business."

"That's what some of us used to think," Bruce said with a chuckle. "Check out what the good doctor can do."

Dr. Strange waved a hand in a circular motion, conjuring a ringed portal before him.

Shinichi gaped at the impossible sight of majestic, cloud-wreathed mountain peaks that the portal revealed.

"He's not the only one who can use magic." With a small flick of her hand, Wanda had energy burst from the tip of her fingers to snake around Shinichi's seat and lift him into the air.

Shinichi yelped while Migi stared down at the receding floor with a wide, unblinking eye. "Fascinating," the Parasyte murmured.

Shinichi's knuckles went white as he clutched at the chair with his left hand. "M-Migi, what the hell is going on? How are they doing that?"

"The man called Dr. Strange and the female named Wanda can use magic."

Shinichi's mouth dropped open. "What? Really?"

"So it seems. Even with my own eye, I have a difficult time processing the phenomenon myself."

Wanda let the seat float gently back down to its former spot on the floor. Shinichi blew a sigh of relief and relaxed his grip, showing the imprint of his fingers on the cushion.

"Impressive," Migi admitted. "I didn't believe it until you showed me. From what you are trying to say, we are currently in a world where magic is real and enhanced individuals exist." Migi's eye tilted this way and that. "And what is this place specifically, as in this building around us?"

"You're in our base," Sam replied. "Headquarters, training facility, et cetera. Migi, is that right? As long as you're within these walls, you're free to show yourself. Anywhere outside the perimeters, we can't guarantee that you can waltz around without the public going hysterical and armed forces pointing weapons at you."

"Fair enough. I'm not interested in drawing unwanted attention to myself or Shinichi." Migi then paused to translate everything to his host.

"Cool, a superhero base," Shinichi breathed.

"Focus. Don't think about relaxing just yet. We were dropped into unfamiliar territory, and these people have the advantage on their turf. Maybe they don't mean to harm us now, but we can't let them have us tied to their leash. I want to level the playing field through discussion, if not weapons, so we don't look so susceptible."

Shinichi tensed up and nodded. "Ever the tactical one, Migi. Go ahead, you're the only one who can talk to them."

Migi turned back to face Dr. Strange and the Avengers. "Are we prisoners here? Are you keeping us hostage until we give you what you want?"

Sam knitted his brow. "You're not prisoners. We can accommodate you here while you tell us what we need to know. We just repaired the facility last week, and you'll be quite comfortable. It's not like we're strapping you to a chair, dunking you in cold water, and prodding you with electric batons."

"Yet you've pulled us away from our world, and we have no way on our own to go back."

"I will open up a portal to let you go home," Dr. Strange said, "_if_ you cooperate with us. It's in your best interest that you do so."

"You say that you brought us here because you want information. What kind of information?"

"Everything about you and Shinichi," Wanda replied. "Everything you've learned in your relationship as host and parasite."

Migi closed his eye. "Well, that's not so simple to explain, if that's what you were expecting. Shinichi and I have been through a lot since we merged. I assume you want to use what I could tell you, but how can you do that if none of you are merged with my kind like me and Shinichi? You would not be able to apply that information."

"Why do you have to be defensive and difficult about it?" Bucky asked.

"I simply see no use in telling you something beyond your understanding."

Sam sighed. "Oh boy. We'll be standing around here for days if we told you everything that _we_ know."

Bruce spread his arms wide. "There's an entire universe out there that makes our world a tiny speck in the grand scheme of it all."

Rhodey narrowed his eyes at Migi. "You're not the first alien or monster to drop in on us, you know. We've dealt with and survived entire armies invading our planet. You're just another threat we have to stomp out and clean up."

Mention of other intelligent, inhuman species piqued Migi's interest, but he hid that reaction from the Avengers. "Well, if it's no surprise to you, then why waste your time talking to me? Shouldn't you be out there being the heroes you claim to be?"

The Avengers exchanged uncomfortable glances. Wanda quietly broke the silence. "We have never dealt with a threat like this before. Thanks to Carol, a friend of ours, we're informed of the existence of Skrulls: shapeshifting aliens that can disguise themselves as humans. They turn out to be simply refugees in hiding, rather than malicious infiltrators." She furrowed her brow as she forced herself to make eye contact with Migi. "Your kind…in some ways they're similar to Skrulls, but in other ways different. You don't just change your face and body into people, like changing in and out of clothes. You burrow and latch on to them, and take over their minds, and live off of them. You become your prey. You eat up the rest." Wanda shuddered. "I'm terrified to look into someone's face but sense something else lurking underneath. What scares the rest of my comrades is not knowing the difference. I can at least tell who around me is human or one of you. But how can they know for sure about me?"

No one spoke up to reprimand her for admitting how scared they all were. Shinichi's uncertain gaze flitted among them, but no one would meet his eyes.

Migi pointed a little index finger at Wanda. "As I've said before, you are not one of my kind. I can sense that. If your fellow humans might not believe you, then they can believe me."

She said nothing, looking unsure whether to be relieved and assured or not.

"That's the kind of stuff we need to know," Bruce cut in. "We're well equipped to overpower your kind, but we can't always resort to violence. We need to tell apart the humans from the parasites, and prevent casualties before they happen."

"How long have they been in your world?" Migi asked.

"We got word of the first incident three days ago," Sam replied. "News of a housewife butchering her husband and two kids. Since then, similar horror stories have cropped up. So I'd say that you things popped out not too long before those three days."

"Shuri managed to obtain unopened spores from the border of Wakanda around that time," Bucky said. "There's footage of how they landed. She thinks that the parasites might have 'hatched' from them."

Migi failed to suppress his shock and interest. "To this day, I don't know where I come from. I ponder over the mystery every day. In the world where Shinichi and I come from, there has been no published record of people ever catching us before we inhabit our hosts."

Bruce raised fingers to his chin. "I assume that your world lacks the advanced technology and readiness for alien presence. I also assume that your world doesn't have a country called Wakanda."

Migi shook his eye stalk. "There's no such name in the world maps I had studied. Where is this Wakanda, and how can I meet this Shuri?" He narrowed his eye. "I see a deal that we can agree on. If you show me the origins of my kind, then I will tell you our functions, abilities, and weaknesses."

Bucky raised an eyebrow. "More cooperative now, huh? Looks like we got ourselves a deal, right?" He turned to Sam for the new leader's approval.

Sam frowned. "I don't think that the most protected nation in the world would be willing to just let a parasite through its borders. They'll need some convincing that you're okay to go."

"I will not cause trouble," Migi insisted. "Unless you provoke me, that is."

"We also want to know how you came to occupy only Shinichi's right hand," Wanda added. "Looking at you and Shinichi now, I sense two distinct presences, not like the single presence of an infected human who lost his or her individuality to the parasite. You're the first case we know of a parasite that hasn't taken over the brain. The only parasites we've been exposed to are aggressive and unwilling to be questioned."

Dr. Strange nodded at Migi. "That's why anything you can tell us would be valuable, whether you think so or not."

"Don't be like the rest," Rhodey said. "Get along with us, then we can get you home, and you'll have the honor of being the first non-hostile parasite that's been spared by the Avengers."

Migi crossed his little arms over his mouth. "A dubious honor, but one I'll accept nonetheless." He sagged and his eye drooped. "That's enough to take in for today. I'm tired. I need to sleep."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's enough for one day, especially for you two. Sorry that we had to pull you in like this."

Shinichi sat up from the slouch he began to have during the lengthy conversation. "Hey Migi, don't fall asleep on me now. Tell me what's going on!"

Migi stirred. "Oh, right. I almost forgot." He relayed what the Avengers had told him, but midway through, he drifted off and receded into Shinichi's body before he could finish.

Shinichi clutched his right wrist and shook, but his now ordinary hand flopped back and forth uselessly. His face flushed when he looked up at the Avengers. "Sorry, Migi sleep a lot." He did his best to communicate. "When he sleep, I by myself. Just me. He not know what happens. He sleep four hours every day."

Rhodey raised his eyebrows. "Interesting to know."

"I wonder if all parasites have to do this," Bruce mused. "It's a weakness we can exploit." Not that Shinichi could understand and would be able to answer him, anyway.

* * *

Sam and Bucky gave Shinichi a brief tour of the Avengers facility, showing him the kitchen and a spare bedroom. The young man flopped spread-eagled onto the bed and fell asleep right away.

"Poor kid looks wiped out," Sam remarked from behind the crack in the bedroom door.

"We have to remember he's more than a kid," Bucky said. Then he murmured, "I wonder what kind of hell he went through, living with that thing in his right hand. He's got the look of someone who saw hell and came back."

Rhodey had changed out of his suit and stepped in between the two men. "In any case, we can only ask when he's up and ready to talk some more." He snorted. "Actually, that Migi's been the one talking the whole time today."

Bucky shook his head. "You heard how that thing switched between Japanese and English with no sweat at all? That sucker's sharp."

"Curious, too." Sam tapped the side of his shaved head. "If there's one thing I learned today, it's that curiosity killed the cat. That parasite, I mean. Good thing you mentioned Shuri and the spores, Bucky. That really got Migi interested and willing to play along with us."

The three men returned to the living room to rejoin the rest of the Avengers. Dr. Strange pulled back from his whispered exchange with Wanda and looked around the room.

"I'm returning to my post," he announced. "Until the time comes for the boy and his parasite to return home, my part here is done."

"What, not gonna stay for an Avengers slumber party?" Rhodey asked.

Dr. Strange didn't crack a smile. "I'm a sorcerer, not an Avenger. As serious as the parasite threat is, it's not a mystical threat. Therefore, it's not a sorcerer's duty to address it." He turned away with a flourish of his cape. "I leave this matter in your capable hands."

"A real pleasure to be around, huh?" Bruce quipped. "Well, at least he called us capable."

Wanda sighed and folded arms across her chest. "Do I really have to stay here in the same building as that…that monster? I won't be able to get any sleep."

Sam regarded her with sympathy. "I hate to be the one to point it out, but you don't have anywhere else to go. This has been your home since Sokovia's…gone. Besides, Migi's sleeping right now. You sleep while he sleeps, nothing bad will happen."

"I get at least four hours of sleep," Wanda said wryly. "Better than nothing, I guess."

None of her fellow Avengers failed to notice the pallor of her face and the shadows under her eyes. The invasion of the parasites had taken a heavy toll on her. Earlier today, before Dr. Strange had Shinichi drop in from his world, Wanda had received an official request from T'Challa to join the Border Tribe in evaluating the influx of refugees into Wakanda. With her perception, she would be the best at telling apart people genuinely seeking asylum from predators seizing the opportunity to sneak in. Her abilities put her in high demand. No one envied the struggles of a telepath sensitive to the killing intent of man-eating parasites. Wanda made it no secret of hating being around the things. As long as they lurked, she couldn't get any rest and peace.

Bruce rested a hand on Wanda, which enveloped both of her shoulders. "We're going to learn as much as we can from Migi and Shinichi, so we can help you spot those parasites when they're hiding. You won't be alone."

She managed a wan smile. "Thanks, Bruce. I'll try to get some sleep tonight." She slipped away to head for her bedroom, leaving the men to themselves.

"If we're going to hear from Shinichi, too, we'd better find a way to include him in the conversation," Sam said. "I felt kind of bad that he was left out of most of it today. He just sat there looking scared and clueless as any guy who's pulled into another world all of a sudden."

"I'm sure Shuri's got some nifty translating tech up her sleeve that we can use," Bucky suggested.

No one said it, but they all thought that if Tony was still around, he would've had the solution. The absence of a brilliant mind left a big hole in the Avengers who remained. That hole had to be filled somehow. The Avengers had to reassemble.

"I'll see if I can get Carol, Clint, Scott, and Peter on the line tomorrow," Sam said. "Bucky, see if you can get in touch with Princess Shuri or even King T'Challa. People who weren't with us today ought to be updated on what's going on." Then he made something between a groan and a sigh. "And if we can talk to either of the Wakandan royalty, we need to tell them that a parasite's interested in making a visit."


	4. The Acquaintances

**Know Your Enemy (4)**

**The Acquaintances**

Shinichi woke up with a wide yawn and an even wider stretch. He had slept very comfortably, and was tempted to sink back into the bed the Avengers had provided for him, but he remembered that he had to meet up with them again. He suspected that he had a long day ahead of him.

He looked down at his right hand and flicked at it with his left fingers. "Hey Migi, you're up yet?"

An eyeball rolled open on the back of his hand in response. "Go get breakfast, Shinichi. Your blood sugar is low. You need to eat."

"No need to remind me." His stomach growled as he climbed out of bed. Since he dropped into another Earth without warning, of course he hadn't come prepared, but Shinichi was surprised to find a change of clothes ready for him in the bathroom. They appeared to fit on him, too. The Avengers really did follow through on making accommodations. Shinichi washed his face, brushed his teeth, got changed, and ambled down the hallway to the kitchen.

Wanda had woken up earlier than him. She was already making breakfast in the kitchen, and she looked up from toasting waffles as soon as Shinichi stepped into view.

Yesterday she had tried to keep her distance from him. Now he stood alone and closer to her. He couldn't help finding her attractive, and a sudden shyness overwhelmed him. Shinichi meekly lifted and waved his hand in greeting. "Good morning," he said in English.

"Morning." Wanda stared at his right hand with undisguised apprehension. "There's orange juice, sausage, yogurt, and eggs in the fridge. There's also breakfast burritos and waffles in the freezer. Help yourself."

Migi translated what she had said, and Shinichi stammered out "thanks" in English. Wanda moved out of the way for him to rummage through the fridge. He decided to cut sausages and scramble a pair of eggs. Back stiff and knuckles on the counter, Wanda hovered over the toaster, making a visible effort not to make eye contact. The finished waffles popped out at the same time that Migi's eye, mouth, and feet sprouted from Shinichi's hand, and that made her jump.

"Where are the other Avengers?" Migi asked.

"They're getting in touch with acquaintances who couldn't be here yesterday." Wanda spared a glance at Migi while she poured the syrup, but his appearance seemed to trigger her loss of appetite. She took her plate to a seat at the end of a long dining table across from the kitchen, while Shinichi remained over the stove to cook the eggs.

Migi waddled on his stubby legs back to Shinichi, avoiding the stove's heat. "This is not the time to mate with that female. We have more important things to do today."

Shinichi turned beet red. "Shut up, Migi," he hissed. "_I don't want to mate with her_! Are you out of your mind?"

"I'm merely relaying your body's involuntary messages and reactions. I can detect the increase in your heartbeat, blood pressure, and skin temperature-"

Shinichi frantically waved his left hand over Migi's face. "Shh, cut it out. I don't want her to hear what you've said. She's creeped out by you enough already. Just don't say things to embarrass me, okay? Is that too much to ask?" He turned on the sink's faucet and promptly punished Migi by sticking his right hand under the running water.

"Shinichi, that's cold," Migi exclaimed.

In an attempt to lower Wanda's unease, Shinichi sat with his loaded plate on the opposite end of the table, far away from her as possible. An awkward silence reigned as he and Wanda ate breakfast and kept their eyes on their plates. Migi, however, made no effort to hide his wide-eyed curiosity towards her.

Wanda looked up and frowned at the alien gaze. "What is it?"

"Where is Dr. Strange?" Migi asked. "I'd like to speak to him so I can know more about the multiverse, and the means of my and Shinichi's arrival here."

"He had to go back to the New York Sanctum. He's the guardian there, so he has to stay and protect it. If you want to speak with him, you'll have to head for the Sanctum, but that area's almost always off limits to non-sorcerers."

Migi folded his arms. "I see. How inconvenient."

"Dr. Strange isn't the easiest contact to reach. He usually sticks to his own agenda and priorities. He's not officially a member of the Avengers, but he agreed to help us for a short time."

"Why is that?"

"He's the only one who could bring you and Shinichi to our world."

"How did he know where to find us?"

"I helped him."

"How so?"

Migi's pressing inquiries seemed to unnerve Wanda. "I may be a magic user, but I'm not an advanced practitioner like Dr. Strange, so you'll have to excuse my limited explanation for now. In a nutshell: Dr. Strange can look into different timelines and alternate universes, so we wondered if your kind had invaded other places besides this world, and we needed to find someone with great knowledge and experience with your kind. He proposed that by combining his magic with my ability to sense your kind, we can find such a person. We spent two days looking for someone." She briefly looked up at Shinichi. "And we found you."

Migi turned to pass on Wanda's statements to Shinichi, who said, "I guess we weren't who you expected?"

Migi converted this question into English, to which Wanda answered, "No, you weren't. We thought we would find a scientist, or a soldier."

Shinichi rubbed the back of his head. "I'm neither of those things...I'm just a guy about to start college. I don't know how useful I can be to you all."

The tension on her face slackened a bit with her reply. "I'm sure you'll still be able to help us." She glanced at his plate that he just emptied. "I have questions for you, too, but it's better if I save them for another time." She took a last bite of waffle and rose from the table. "Come on, I'll take you to meet up with the others."

Shinichi offered to wash both of their plates, and with Migi's help, that proved to be efficient. Then Wanda led him deeper into the Avengers facility and into the communications room. Everyone that Shinichi had met yesterday, with the exception of Dr. Strange, gathered around a series of screens. Sam and Bucky were leaning in to tap and swipe their fingers over the high-tech interface.

"Got in touch with anyone yet?" Wanda asked.

"Clint and Scott are coming online soon," Sam replied. "Peter got our message and will try to contact us after school. Carol's going to be more difficult to reach, since she's off-planet."

"Shuri will show up later, too," Bucky said. "Different time zones." He caught sight of Shinichi behind him and he added, "She sent something that'll be very convenient for us, by the way." He reached into the interface, and as he pulled back, a small round object materialized into his prosthetic hand. "She calls it the Polyglot Pitcher. It pitches a kind of digital tent around us and provides close-captioned, live, and accurate translation for over two hundred languages, English and Japanese included. Let's give it a try." Bucky tossed it directly above him. The so-called Polyglot Pitcher latched onto the ceiling and spread a thin, light blue globe over the gathered group.

"Testing, one, two," Sam said. "Shinichi, if you can read me loud and clear, give a thumbs up."

Sam's words read as light blue hiragana script floating above his head. Shinichi's mouth dropped open, then he beamed and gave an excited thumbs up. "I can understand you! Can you understand me?"

For the Avengers, what Shinichi said read as light blue English words on top of his head. His excitement was infectious. Everyone else nodded at him, and broke out into smiles or sighs of relief.

"Great, this will save us a whole lot of time and trouble," Rhodey said with earnest. "Glad we can all be on the same page."

"Migi told me that he learned Japanese in one day," Shinichi said. "I wish I could be as smart as him and learn English in a day." He chuckled. "How about that? My right hand's smarter than my brain."

His attempt at a joke diffused some of the morning heaviness and tension from the room. The lifted mood was interrupted by the flicker of holograms before them. A pair of middle-aged men appeared from the waist up.

"Scott Lang, reporting in," the slimmer one announced.

The other, dour-looking one met eyes with Shinichi. "This is the kid you've all told me about?" Then, to Shinichi's surprise, without the aid of the Polyglot Pitcher, the man went on in Japanese: "Good morning. I guess you've already been introduced to the rest. I'm Clint Barton: ex-Avenger, now retired. How are you?"

"H-Hello. Good morning. I'm doing fine, thanks." Shinichi couldn't help asking, "Excuse me, sir, but how do you speak Japanese so well?"

Clint shrugged. "Did solo work in Japan. But that's a story for another time." He cracked a smirk. "And no need to call me sir. That makes me feel old. I may be retired, but I'm not that old yet." He squinted at Shinichi. "So where's the parasite that everyone's also been talking about?"

"Here I am." Migi's eye stalk and body extended up to Shinichi's eye level.

Everyone in the room flinched a little, and the man named Scott had the most drastic jolt. "Whoa, don't scare me like that. Thank God I'm just here by hologram, or I could've pissed myself."

"All right, let's get back on topic," Sam said firmly. "Scott, Clint, how are you doing with your families since news of the parasites first came up?"

Clint cleared his throat. "I appreciate you calling me up on hologram, rather than make me come over. My wife and kids are doing fine, thanks for asking, but I need to stay at the farm to keep them that way." He looked down with a scowl. "I'm scared of going away and coming back to find any of them in pieces, or they become one of those things."

Scott was next to speak. "Ditto what Hawkeye said. I'm keeping a close eye on my daughter." He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "I…I'm afraid of what will happen if those things manage to get inside her school. It's my worst nightmare right now."

Bruce nodded. "We understand your concern."

"It happened before," Shinichi blurted out. "A Parasyte getting into a school, I mean. It happened twice, actually, at my school."

The blanching of Scott's face was evident even on hologram. "Shit, are you serious?" He clutched at hair on the sides of his head. "Cassie's in trouble…"

"Scott, calm down. Get a hold of yourself," Clint said, though he also looked quite troubled. He had _three_ kids, each at a different school.

Migi's flat, matter-of-fact tone commanded the attention of everyone in the room. "I'd like to add that both instances were resolved, thanks to the combined efforts of myself and Shinichi. If we hadn't worked together, we might not have been so fortunate. Both instances involved the enemies going out of control, lashing out indiscriminately, and not being in optimal fighting conditions. Eliminating them didn't take much effort."

"That brings us to what we have planned for today," Sam said. "Shinichi, Migi, we need to get a better look and idea of how you parasites fight. We're especially interested in how you two fight together, because I'm sure that's different than how most parasites operate."

Migi bobbed his eye stalk up and down in a nod. "It's true that Shinichi and I work differently...and better than the average member of my species, I would argue."

"If you demonstrate for us, I'll try to have the Wakandans at least tell you their theories on your origin," Bucky said. "Honestly, the idea of you coming into Wakanda itself for a visit would be a hard pill to swallow. We need more trust to establish among us."

"Very well. I can recreate the two fights I had mentioned, if you wish."

"That would be very helpful," Bruce said, and he furrowed his brow. "So, Migi, you have no qualms whatsoever about helping in the fight against your own kind?"

The Parasyte gave no pause in considering the moral implications. "Like I had said, I value my own life above all else. I could care less for what happens to members of my own species. Every one of them think the same of me and of each other. I also value my yearning to learn as much as I can. If helping you deal with my kind on your world will lead me to knowing more about my origin, then I will comply without complaints."

"I-I see." Bruce's unsettled expression reminded Shinichi of his own disbelief at Migi's detachment from sympathy.

Bucky reached up for the Polyglot Pitcher on the ceiling and nodded at Migi and Shinichi. "Let's head over to the training area. That's where you can flex your muscles, while we'll also show you what we can do." He said this before detaching the high-tech translator.

"See you over there," Scott said.

"This ought to be interesting to watch," Clint remarked.

Their holograms flickered out.

As Shinichi followed the Avengers to the training area, Migi kept his eye and mouth open to confide in him. "I'm very interested in assessing the combat capabilities of this group. Already I can tell that they are no ordinary humans, but I wonder how they can hold up to our speed and stamina." Migi's eye trained on Wanda's back ahead of him and Shinichi. "I sense that the female is very strong. Quite possibly the strongest of them all."

Shinichi was taken aback, and he whispered into his right hand, "You're sure about that?"

Migi narrowed his eye. "I'm sure. Don't underestimate her."

The Parasyte's warning puzzled Shinichi. He thought that Bruce would be the strongest. Bruce was certainly the tallest and the biggest. Actually, he reminded Shinichi of the experiment Parasyte Gotou, but much more benevolent. Wanda, on the other hand, didn't look exceptionally fit. In fact, she looked like she could use a proper amount of sleep and more time under the sun. She was still pretty, despite that. Shinichi shook his head to clear it of that thought.

_Snap out of it_, he scolded himself. _You already got a girlfriend back home._

Wanda looked only a few years older than him, the youngest and smallest among the Avengers that Shinichi had met so far. At first glance, she didn't seem intimidating or someone to watch out for. Then again, Migi's intuition and assessments of combatants were rarely proven wrong.

As Wanda looked over her shoulder, Migi fell silent and shut his eye. Shinichi stared into his right palm. He didn't say it out loud, and he knew Migi couldn't read his thoughts. The unspoken question that crossed his mind now sent a shiver down his spine.

_Migi, could you…could you be afraid of her?_


	5. The Demonstrations

**Know Your Enemy (5)**

**The Demonstrations **

Migi seemed eager for the most part, while Shinichi grew more nervous as he neared the Avengers' training area. The hallway opened up to a room that shouldn't really be called a room, because it could easily house his former high school's auditorium. Despite the high ceiling, with his enhanced vision Shinichi could spot numerous cameras dotting the corners.

Bucky set up the Polyglot Pitcher in the training area, which set up a much larger sphere than the one in the communications room.

"If you don't mind, we need footage of our fights," Sam told Shinichi and Migi. "If all goes well, you can go back to your world and you don't have to come back here. In the mean time, it would be very helpful for us to look back at what we can learn today."

"Sure, I don't mind," Shinichi said.

Sam and Rhodey stepped out briefly to change into their fighting gear, while Bucky loaded up his shotgun. Wanda and Bruce, needing no additional weapons or suiting up, simply performed a few stretching exercises to warm up. Scott and Clint's holograms flickered back on at the same time that everyone came out prepared.

Scott clapped his hands. "All right, let's get this show on the road. Who's going to take on the parasite first?"

"I will." Rhodey's mask clamped over his face. "I want to see how many bullets Migi can handle."

"B-Bullets?" Sweat broke out on Shinichi's forehead. He didn't have experience with fending off firearms. A little over a year ago, Reiko Tamura hadn't made any effort to block the storm of bullets that ultimately ended her life, so that didn't inspire any confidence in Shinichi.

"Let's take turns to go up against Shinichi and Migi for a minute each," Sam proposed to the other Avengers, and he asked the Parasyte, "How does that sound?"

To Shinichi's relief, Migi said, "One minute is plenty. My kind can move rather quickly, too fast for the human eye to track. A lot can happen in a minute."

"So I've noticed. That's why I think that much time would be good." Then Sam warned Rhodey, "Don't go all out. This is sparring, remember."

That made Shinichi relax, but only for a bit, because Rhodey made a grim reply: "Yeah, well, it'll be hard to remember when I think of how those things ate up one of my Air Force buddies."

"We never fought against guns before," Shinichi hissed at Migi. "What should we do?"

"Calm down, Shinichi. Your heartbeat is too fast. There's a limit to the guns that man carries, and as long as our counters aren't outnumbered, we should be fine."

The other Avengers observed from behind a bulletproof glass wall. Facing each other on opposite sides of the arena, Rhodey, Shinichi, and Migi drew out turrets and bladed tendrils that matched in number.

"Let's see how you take this," Rhodey cried.

He propelled himself high into the air and showered the ground below with rapidfire bullets from turrets mounted on his back, shoulders, and forearms. The area he sprayed was too wide for Shinichi to simply roll away and dodge. Migi's fleshy tendrils whipped in blurs to bat away Rhodey's firepower with his blades. Shinichi crouched behind the wall of protection Migi had put up with his many flailing arms. Several of Rhodey's heavy-hitting rockets sent Shinichi skidding backwards on the floor.

Hiding his mouth and much of his body from being easy targets, Migi called out to Shinichi through their mental link: "Rhodey isn't Mr. A. You can't get simply walk up to him, and Rhodey has the advantage from being high in the air."

Migi was right, of course. Rhodey kept his distance from Shinichi and Migi, to keep ricocheting bullets from hitting his armor. Shinichi thought of the Parasyte-infested dog, his very first enemy encounter.

"Take out whatever's keeping him up," he suggested. "Don't go for his heart. Even if we wanted to and he was a real enemy, I'm sure he's got the most protection over that spot. I'll try to distract him, so he won't see you coming."

"Good plan," Migi replied.

Shinichi had some of Migi's tendrils drawn closer to his body while he ran, drawing Rhodey a bit lower from the air as he concentrated his firepower on him. Like a predator waiting for the most opportune moment to pounce, Migi branched out beyond the hail of bullets to lunge for Rhodey's thrusters. Rhodey saw and tried to fly out of the way, but too late. Migi was too fast for him to follow. Migi jammed blades into the thrusters, resulting in a small explosion that shook the walls of the training area. Rhodey plummeted straight down, but before he could hit the floor, Shinichi had Migi catch his fall with a tangled nest of tendrils.

Just as Rhodey and Migi made contact, Sam called, "Time's up!"

The mask of Rhodey's helmet snapped open to reveal him panting, sweating, and wide-eyed. "So fast," he exclaimed. "That parasite wasn't kidding." Then he admitted, "If that had gone on longer, I would've been toast. I'm almost out of ammo, and once I'm down, there's not much that I can do." He ruefully gestured to the braces keeping his legs working.

"The fight we just had is similar to the first encounter with one of my kind at Shinichi's school," Migi said. Once he set Rhodey back on his feet, the Parasyte shaped his malleable tendrils to depict himself and Shinichi facing off against the head-infested Mr. A. "You see, our foe completely overlooked the fact that Shinichi and I are two separate beings, intertwined but each of us capable of independent thought. Because our foe was so focused on countering me, he failed to notice Shinichi moving in for the fatal blow. That mistake cost him significant blood loss, and his life."

The Avengers had watched Migi's sort of macabre puppet show with rapt interest.

"Shinichi and Migi being able to think independently and work together gives them the tactical advantage," Bruce remarked.

"We'll keep that in mind," Bucky said, and he gestured to Sam. "Come on, how about you and me up next?"

"Sure, I'm game." The new leader of the Avengers flexed the wings mounted on his back, and with taps of the controls on his forearm, his drone Redwing hovered by his side. He nodded at Shinichi and Migi. "Here we go! It's two against two this time!"

Sam took off with a powerful flap of his wings, while Bucky dashed head-on. With deft strokes of his blades, Migi made quick work of rendering Bucky's rounds and shotgun useless. Undeterred, Bucky kept charging and thrust out his left arm to clash against Migi's blades. At the impact, tremors ran down Shinichi's right arm.

It wasn't often that Migi showed surprise, so it shook Shinichi for him to hear from the Parasyte, "I can't pierce that arm."

Sam tucked in his wings and tipped downwards for a barreling dive, fending off Migi's blows with the shield he had braced in front of him. The combined swings of Bucky's left arm and Sam's shield knocked Shinichi off his feet. He slid for several meters on his back, while resonating clangs of Parasyte blades against the arm and shield kept sounding above him. Shinichi staggered to his feet wincing. The blows exchanged began to make his right arm sore. No matter how many times that Migi struck, he couldn't get Bucky's arm or Sam's shield to crack.

"Impossible," Migi exclaimed, "what kind of metal is this?"

"Never seen it before, huh?" Bucky cracked a bold smirk. "It's called vibranium. The strongest metal on the planet."

"I guess you don't have that in your world," Sam said with a deflecting swing of his shield.

Bucky and Sam proved to be an effective team, each taking on a fair share of Migi's attacks and retaliating with an unrelenting barrage of hits from their vibranium weapons. Migi had to constantly readjust the lengths of his arms to go toe-on-toe with both Bucky's melee fighting and Sam's airborne, long-range moves. On top of that, Sam's drone Redwing acted as a sniper, sneaking in shots from overhead. Against such a team, especially a team armed with vibranium, Shinichi didn't feel that he and Migi had the advantage. All he could do was hide behind Migi and hope that he wouldn't break any bones in the process.

"Time's up," Bruce called.

Sam and Bucky stepped back, and Shinichi sank on quivering knees to the floor. Sweat glistened on all of their faces. Shinichi's sore right arm pulsed and throbbed in time with his heart. Migi inspected the blades at the ends of his arms, then his eye snaked up and down along Sam's shield and Bucky's arm.

"Interesting…neither of your weapons have a single nick on them," he said to the two men. "Vibranium is truly a strong metal."

Bucky flexed his left knuckles. "It's been an effective weapon against the parasites. It seems that's the only thing that your blades can't penetrate. I can even break them off if I get a good grip on them." With his right hand, he patted Shinichi's shoulder. "I didn't want to hurt you, though."

Still aching and trembling from the intense fight, Shinichi managed a relieved grin at Bucky.

Scott shifted his weight. "Man, I kind of wish I was here for this. I want in on some of that action."

Clint snorted. "I'm glad I'm not really here. I would've been taken out in a split second. I can neutralize a parasite when it's still hiding, but once those tentacles go flying, my bow and arrows can't do much against that."

Bruce rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. "I guess that the Hulk and I are up now. It'll be two on two again, in a way."

"Who's the Hulk?" Shinichi asked.

"You'll see soon enough," Bruce replied.

Once the other Avengers retreated to safety, and the seemingly two but actually four combatants faced each other, Bruce let out an inhuman roar and charged at Shinichi like a raging bull. Migi bulked up more muscle and metal into Shinichi's right arm to counter a flying fist from Bruce. The collision sent Shinichi skidding back several feet, while Bruce barely budged.

Shinichi grunted in pain. "Shit! He sure can pack a punch."

"He's a fighter of brute strength," Migi remarked. "He talks of something, or someone else, fighting beside him, but I don't think they are capable of long range combat."

"Let's split up," Shinichi suggested. "You can be separate from me for up to three minutes, right? Let's see how Bruce does when we're apart."

Migi complied by detaching himself from Shinichi, becoming a horror movie's version of a dog as he ran on four legs and eyes branching out from both ends. Bruce went for Migi, clearing the entire floor with a single bound. Migi narrowly dodged the fists that swung down, and again, and again. The floor cracked into many chunks of debris. This was a risky move; though Shinichi's senses, reflexes, strength, and agility were above average, they didn't hold a candle to Bruce. That big green man was strong _and_ fast. Without Migi to defend him, Shinichi was wide open for a fatal, pulverizing blow. Fortunately, Bruce ignored Shinichi and chased down Migi instead. Remembering how the detective Shiro Kuramori had narrowly escaped Migi's clutches, Shinichi figured that there was no way that Migi could go offensive and put a dent in Bruce. Migi didn't have enough weight for that.

_He's just seeing what Bruce can do, and Bruce can't branch off into many parts like we can._

Thirty seconds passed before Migi turned tail and retreated back into Shinichi.

"I want to test his durability," Migi said. "We can make use of the debris lying around."

Shinichi caught on quickly. "You want us to do the same move as that second time at school."

"Correct."

"But we're _not_ going to punch a hole through his chest. We're not trying to kill him. We're just sparring, remember?"

"I didn't forget." Migi's arms snaked around a ball-like chunk of the floor and pulled back to form claws and rippling muscle. "Aim for the spot between his shoulder and neck."

Satisfied with Migi's proposed target, Shinichi spread his legs apart and cocked back his elongated, deformed right arm like a baseball pitcher. He waited for Migi's call to throw, and as Bruce came for them head-on like a juggernaut, Migi shouted, "Now!"

Shinichi slung the chunk of debris at the bulging muscle between Bruce's neck and right shoulder. The chunk bounced right off, leaving only the slightest indent on the green skin, but not enough to draw blood. Shinichi gaped in shock.

"Down, Shinichi," Migi snapped. The downward sprout of his tendrils pulled Shinichi to the floor and sliding through the gap between Bruce's legs. The whiplash made Shinichi's head spin and neck hurt.

"Did you see that, Migi? He took that like it was nothing!"

"Yes, I saw." The Parasyte narrowed his golden eye. "He's even more durable than Gotou."

Bruce turned around and brushed at the spot where he had been hit, as if he brushed off dust. "That itched, like a mosquito bite."

Shinichi's heart raced. "Got anything else in mind, Migi?"

Before the Parasyte could say anything, Sam said, "Time's up!"

Shinichi blew a sigh of relief, and his right arm contorted back to skin-colored normal. "I thought we were going to get clobbered."

"We attempted to pull off the same move that had killed the second intruder at Shinichi's school," Migi told Bruce. "We couldn't alert him of our presence, so I had Shinichi stand on the rooftop of another building, just out of the radius of detection. With strength I lent to Shinichi, we threw a rock that went straight through the host's heart."

Bruce nodded. "That explains your last action. Unlike that parasite, though, I'm a lot tougher to put down. Gamma radiation can do that to you. The Hulk, or the big guy as I like to call him, used to have a more distinct identity within me. Rage used to bring him out, and the more angry I got, the stronger he became. Well, I don't want to be a rage monster all the time. Recently I learned to have him and I be more integrated, so that who you see is a combination of my brains and the big guy's brawn."

"That's not so different from how Shinichi and I had merged," Migi said.

Bruce raised fingers to his chin. "Hmm, I'd like to hear how that came about, but that discussion can be for another time. Besides, you got one more person to face." He gestured to Wanda.

Standing next to her, Sam leaned his face close to her ear. Shinichi looked away to pretend not noticing, but his enhanced hearing could pick up Sam's surreptitious whisper: "I know how much you hate those parasites, but remember that Shinichi's not our enemy. Don't put him in a world of hurt too much."

Shinichi gulped.

Wanda switched places with Bruce by emerging from the safety of the bulletproof shelter. "I wonder how you'll do against me." As she said this, red wisps danced at her fingertips.

Migi's many eyes and arms sprouted from Shinichi's right hand, and they mirrored the snakelike, almost hypnotic movements of her fingers. "The only channel for her power appears to be her hands," the Parasyte murmured to Shinichi. "We should split up again. This time I'll provide distraction, and you can move in to incapacitate her."

Shinichi nodded. Not counting Wanda's magic, and considering only base human strength, he could likely overpower her. She wasn't covered in armor or bulging with muscles like the other Avengers. She was no tank, but a glass cannon. Her defenses were lacking. If Shinichi could get to Wanda on time, and keep her from using magic, the win would go to him and Migi.

As soon as Sam called out to commence the fight, Shinichi and Migi took off in opposite directions. Migi sprouted as many arms from his little body as he could to keep Wanda's focus and both of her hands on him. One by one, his tendrils froze in place from the sinuous red snares of her magic. Shinichi sprinted to close the gap between him and Wanda's back in just a few steps. He aimed to tackle her to the ground like a football player. Before he could jump for her, however, she tucked in her body and somersaulted out of his reach. Shinichi's belly met the floor, knocking the breath out of him. The lapse of her hold on Migi prompted him to lash his long arms at her. Some wrapped around her left hand, but before he could get to her right, Wanda leapt to her feet and thrust out her right palm to immobilize Migi. Slowly she curled in her fingers, making Migi's arms collapse and bend in odd angles, like paper crumpling in a fire.

Frightening bright redness glowed in her eyes. "Let go of me," she said to Migi through gritted teeth.

The fingers around her left hand clamped over Migi's tendrils, her grip coursing with angry-looking red magic. His hold on her fell apart as decayed flesh. Concern for Migi spurred Shinichi off the floor and he made another lunge at Wanda. With her left hand now freed, she caught him in the same magical bind that held Migi.

Shinichi exerted himself with all of his might, but he couldn't wrestle free from the intangible prison. Migi faced the same predicament, his arms and blades poised uselessly over Wanda. Though she froze him in place, she didn't even pay attention to Shinichi. Instead she fixed her intense gaze on Migi, and to Shinichi's horror, the Parasyte wilted and withered under Wanda's magic. Despite the three minute limit, somehow Wanda was accelerating Migi's deterioration.

"Migi," Shinichi cried. "Wanda, please stop." It hadn't been a minute yet, but he had to call it.

Fear spiked within him when she wouldn't relent. Migi continued to wither, and his eyelids scrunched almost completely over his eyes. Shinichi had never seen Migi express pain before, until now. Tears streamed unchecked down Shinichi's cheeks. "Wanda, that's my _friend_. You're killing him!"

Red magic clouded his vision. Suddenly he felt a stabbing sensation through the middle of his chest. He felt this before. He blinked and drew in a choked gasp. Instead of Wanda before him, he saw his mother. No, more like a Parasyte disguised as his mother. Her head collapsed under grotesque slivers of flesh.

"No, Mom, not again."

Dimly, seemingly from far away, he heard Migi's demanding tone. "What are you doing to Shinichi? Release at him once."

The stabbing sensation through his heart persisted, and the pain nearly made him pass out. "Mom, don't do this to me," he gasped.

His distress went unheard by the female Avenger, though it prompted Sam, Bucky, Rhodey, and Bruce to run up and cut their observation short.

"Wanda, that's enough," Sam said firmly.

Clint's hologram hovered up to her. "Hey, kid, snap out of it."

At the shouts from Sam and Clint, she blinked several times, and her hands dropped to her sides. Shinichi and Migi collapsed together on the floor, both freed from her magic's clutches.

Shinichi extended the stump of his right upper arm to the limp Parasyte, his voice worn and hoarse. "Migi, come back to me."

Migi stirred and slithered back to the safety of nourishing blood from Shinichi's body.

Shinichi half cradled, half shook his right hand. "Migi, are you okay? Talk to me."

An eye and a mouth slowly materialized into Shinichi's palm. The Parasyte's voice was soft and weak. "I…I'm fine now. That was…terrifying. I must admit that I had never been so frightened of anything before."

Tears from before became tears of relief. "I'm just so glad that you're back."

"Your display of concern is unbecoming of you."

The Avengers knelt by Shinichi expressing their concern. They asked many times if he was okay. All Shinichi could do was squeeze his eyes shut and shake his head.

Wanda stood apart from her comrades, the redness gone from her eyes and only guilt written all over pale face. "Shinichi, I'm so sorry."

Dull anger took over the lingering pain in his chest. He glared up at her. "You almost killed Migi. Apologize to him, too."

She swallowed visibly, leveled her gaze with the one in his right hand, and went on, "Migi, I'm sorry. I really am."

"That was your defense mechanism," the Parasyte merely said.

She returned her gaze up to Shinichi. "I made you see something you most feared, didn't I? Migi's right, it's part of my defense reaction. When I go up against something that _I_ fear, I lose myself." She shook her head. "I'm so sorry, both of you. I thought I had moved past hurting more than helping others, but I was wrong." Wanda retreated from the training area with her head down and eyes downcast.

Clint stared after her with undisguised sympathy. "I know that she overreacted and shouldn't have treated you and Migi that way, but I get where she's coming from. She's going through a lot. Try not to hate her for this, Shinichi."

The intensity of all the fights today, particularly the one he and Migi just had with Wanda, hit Shinichi like an eighteen-wheeler, and his shoulders slumped. "I…I don't hate her. I just can't believe that she's this strong, and that she'd go all out on us."

"Wanda may the strongest among us, but she's also the most fragile," Clint murmured. "She's a kid, much like you, with still a lot of growing up to do. We're trying to help her out, but ever since the parasites dropped in, that got a lot harder."

"Yeah, I bet." Shinichi stumbled to his feet and swayed on the spot. "I need to hit the bed. I'm so tired."

Bucky stretched out a supporting hand on his back. "You definitely need the rest. Meanwhile we'll try to contact the others."

"We'll wake you up when we got them on the line," Sam said. But no sooner had the words left his mouth, a high-pitched buzz sounded from the communicator on his forearm. "It's from Peter," he exclaimed. He answered the call. "Hey, kid, what's going on? Weren't you going to check in after your field trip?"

Shinichi heard a young man's voice reply in fast-talking panic.

"Yeah, I was, but this can't wait. So my class was going to the Met, and there are other schools also at the museum, right? Well, five 'kids' from another school began attacking, and they're actually parasites!" Pants and distant screams could be heard. "I can't hold them off on my own. I need backup!"

"Hang on, Peter. We'll be right there." Sam cut the line and nodded at his comrades. "All right, Avengers, let's roll out."

Bruce's large, heavy hand clapped over Shinichi's shoulders jolted him out of his dazed, fatigued stupor. "Sorry, Shinichi, but we'll likely need you, too. You better come with us."

"W-Wait, where are we going? What about Wanda?"

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art's under attack," Rhodey replied. "And about Wanda…well, she'll have to sit this one out. Let her clear her head."

"Shinichi's not in the best shape to fight, either," Migi said mildly.

"He can take a quick nap on the Quinjet," Sam said.

"Besides, don't you want to check out the parasites from our world?" Bucky asked.

"I must admit that I'm interested. I want to get a better look of our new surroundings." Migi rolled his gaze from Bucky to Shinichi. "I am not interested in being a hero, however. I still do not understand why people are so willing to risk their lives to save complete strangers."

Shinichi shrugged. "That's what heroes do." He was eager to see the Avengers on the field. If he was invited to come along, maybe he could play the hero for a bit. This was what he had wanted all along, right? To one day be a hero for his world?


End file.
